Jimmie Johnson Quotations

I lived in Wisconsin for a while, so I keep my eyes on the Packers. I grew up in San Diego, so there's the Chargers, but outside of that, I'm really kind of lame because I don't have a specific team I pull for.

I do find it amusing when somebody cuts me off, makes an aggressive move on me in a car. I'm like, 'Do you have any idea what I do for a living? Why?'

NASCAR fans are very knowledgeable and very passionate.

Driving will never be away from me - I can't just give it up. It's all I've ever done, and there's something about being in that car.

The thing I love about off-road racing is the pride in how abusive it is.

I've always looked for my affirmation through my peers, the people I race against, and within my team.

I didn't get into racing to make friends.

I don't need to break the speed limit. But if I'm not passing other vehicles on the interstate, I get a little irritated.

How do you say no when a little kid is asking you for ice cream? I know I can't say no to it myself.

I suck at golf and a variety of other things I go out and do with my friends.

Since I was kid, what's drawn me to racing is the feeling inside of me, the passion I have for the sport, the feeling I have while competing and doing what I do in a car, on a bike, whatever it's been

I grew up racing off-road trucks. They were on road courses with jumps. I made a name for myself in that style of racing.

There is no other way to start the season than to win the Daytona 500.

The competition in today's world of racing is so tough.

I feel I'm entitled to my opinion, right or wrong.

I grew up on two wheels in the dirt.

I lift weights four times a week, usually run five days a week.

Very few athletes have the chance to be brought into the White House.

I've met a handful of presidents, from Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton to George Bush to Barack Obama.

I've always wanted to get involved with designing a video game.

I've been very fortunate to dodge a nickname throughout my entire career. I've never had one.

The Daytona 500 is a career-winning race. It defines careers for drivers, crew members, crew chiefs and race teams. It has that power.

We're still at the Brickyard, right? It's all corporate dollars and we all have to do what we can to put food on the table.

We were competitive at one point, ... I just feel like the car was abusive and we were wearing the right rear out. And then again, the track changed some more, or something changed and got away from us and we couldn't keep up with it.

Last year's experience showed me that so much can go on, ... There's no need to get too excited yet.

Momentum is an important thing. We are happy to be winning in the Chase. Last year we won four, this year so far we have won two already. It is coming at a good time. We had a couple of slow months before the Chase started. We definitely have things going in the right direction.

One (DNF), I spun out here and crashed, ... I was frustrated. I got too aggressive and crashed. That was worth at least 100 points. All I needed was to be safe.

I was slowly catching Matt before that last caution. I think we could have got up there to race with him but, if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. Then we got that last yellow. I thought long and hard about what I would do if I was protecting the lead. I knew I wanted to be on the outside. I faked kind of to the bottom and he kind of bought it.

I wouldn't expect that stuff to take place this weekend, the speeds are too high. We can't bump each other and lean on each other like you would at a short track.

I give him a lot of credit. One, for his intelligence and ability to build great race cars. And two, for stepping up with all the focus and pressure. He's been able to have a clear mind and stay relaxed and make great decisions.

I feel very good where we are. There's still a lot of racing left, a lot of the year ahead of us still for the championship, and that's what our eyes are on.

If it was somebody else, I don't think I would have had the same comfort. I didn't have any concerns over any aggressive driving.

He is in control of the championship in my mind and I hate to admit that, ... If I go out and do all that I can and lead the race and lead the most laps, then it's just in his hands from there as to where he finishes and what happens.

He hit a home run, which was awesome.

He's been talking to me for seven or eight years about having an auction, but when you love something like he loves this business, it's really hard to let go. This is an amazing collection. It would take someone 10 years to get the variety of clocks that are here.

Just not a normal thing to happen with our engines.

I was working with Brian throughout the race. His car was probably the only one that was really loose out there. That thing was dead sideways at times. Once I got to his outside, I saw the outside lane coming. I moved up to block it and got ahead of him right when the caution came out.

I was a little confused too. But maybe his strategy was to race the two contenders hard and maybe the caution would come out in the process.

I was little surprised that he just continually drove in and kept trying to blast me in the center. The time that he got by me, he really had my wheels off the ground and I couldn't get to the gas.

Our (Hendrick) engineers and crew chiefs all get together and compare notes. That's when you really see the benefit of a four-car team.

I was fading so I don't really have any complaints with the way that he raced me. I passed him two or three times earlier in the day and found another line and worked my way around the outside of him. I was a little surprised that he continually drove it in and kept trying to blast me in the center. I think he probably hit me for four or five laps and the time that he got by me, he really had my wheels off the ground and I couldn't get in the gas and he got inside of me and from there drove on and drove away from me. This is short track racing.

I think if there weren't so many questions on it, you might get some more reactions on the track. You might see payback. With all the attention drawn to it, no one's going to make a mistake. I guess the fans are being shorted in an ironic way.

I thought if I could get to the outside of Matt, I had a shot. But as soon as I got outside him going into the first turn, the tires started chattering and I knew I could have a problem. Once I knew I couldn't get past him to the outside, I defended second.

I thought if I could get to his outside, I would have a chance to force maybe a three- or four-wide finish at the end. But when I tried to go to his outside in turn one, as soon as I turned ... the front tires started chattering. I stayed on the gas a little bit and tried to get to his (rear quarter panel) and I couldn't.

I'm happy for Chad, especially because he hasn't had a chance to enjoy Victory Lane. His cars have been winning races but he was, unfortunately, at home.

You know, there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm accepting it. I'm happy to see that as these last few days have gone by, a lot of people are understanding that it was a qualifying infraction, and there was a whole week that followed ... that we then cleared inspection and won the race. It's time to look ahead.

We were inside the top 10 for most of the day. We were doing a great job, and the guys made a lot of adjustments and did a lot of work. But just there at the end we couldn't keep up with the track, or the car got loose for some reason.

We didn't change a thing for this week. In our opinion, we didn't really have a chance to race at Bristol. We'd had a great practice, and felt like we had a great car -- and then we started the race with a flat tire.

We didn't change a thing for this week.

There are a lot of other guys to worry about, ... I'm not going to let all this chatter get us something to worry about.

We can't play the game of bump drafting like we do at other tracks. That alone changes the race. Here, you don't want anyone around you. At Daytona, you want everyone with you.

We're all flirting with that line and when you step over that line, it's NASCAR's job to call you out on it. And they called us out and we're living with the consequences from that.

This team is still 100 percent capable of winning the Duel we're in, starting last, and also the Daytona 500. We have an amazing team.

We finished 16th, but it's not the end of the world. There are three to go and we'll just keep fighting.

Unbelievable, man. Never quit. . . . I don't have a clue what took place this night.

This year, hopefully we'll make the right decisions and not have any weird things happen to us and I wont make any mistakes on the track and stay clean throughout,

We went back in the spring for the Advance Auto Parts 500, and all the emotions came back,

We got some sacks, and we got some turnovers.

As the day wears on and gets into the evening, we'll try to hone in some new things and hopefully find some speed.

Crew chiefs try to find advantages. It's a deal where you try to massage the gray areas. We're all flirting with that fine line. I sleep well knowing that Chad is working hard to get me an advantage.

Another person I'm going to be thinking of is Brian Vickers, ... The plane crash was on his birthday, of all things.

Race practice was really good, ... We weren't overly excited about our qualifying runs. So, we made some good adjustments and we will be fine.

The one thing I can say is that at the end of the race the bump drafting picked up, and looking at my bumper and knowing the bump drafting that I was doing, the bumper wasn't damaged. We might have to soften them up another notch.

Definitely we wish we had everybody back. There's no doubt that we've lost something. But the people in place did such a good job of training their team that we've been able to move along, win races and still vie for a championship.

Competition does weird things to people. I haven't seen a huge lack of disrespect or evil driving, but we're professionals and we know we have to deliver results.

Back in the spring, all the emotions came back.

You never want to nose-over or lose momentum, but everybody knows that it happens at some point in time,

You can't help but think about it. All the families, dealing with this one-year anniversary, it's going to be so tough for all for them. I know they all do different things to help the anniversary pass, and with as little pain as possible.

There were so many times today that I decided not to block somebody or make a move. I'd get pushed back but I just dealt with it and fought my way back through there.

This lawsuit has certainly made IT managers take another look at their solutions vendors and question their strategies to make sure they're the right partner, with strategies in place to ensure continuity for their businesses. Our open platform approach allows us to cater to almost any situation.

They're similar, but Vick is a lot more explosive as far as speed. I think Vick is supernatural almost, so we're going to have to do a great job in not allowing him to beat us with his feet.

It's been such a long night. To get a fourth win here, I couldn't think of a better place. I can't believe we did this. This shows what this team is made of.

It's just one of the risks that go with it.

It's a place where Clemson and Carolina and Furman fans can all talk without getting into a fight. And no one is cussing.

I tried to stay calm and smooth all day. I didn't get aggressive until the end and it paid off.

For a guy who wants to slow down, Mark Martin hasn't lost his desire or his edge. He's winning and competing. He's really respected in our sport.

It's more of a realistic market, which ties in with the national vibe of people buying hybrids not hummers. The euphoria is gone.

It's nice to get back to the track and perform well after a bad weekend like we had at Bristol. We didn't change a thing. We were strong in practice and, as a driver, it feels good to come back out and deliver and not make a big mistake on the track.

It's so tough to gain points on anyone,

The biggest thing coming out of Daytona is the confidence this team has that we can go out there and perform. I definitely feel that we'll be competitive and racing for a top five.

Talladega is a wild-card event. We're just going to go out and try to stay out of trouble. There's really nothing else you can do.

Talladega is a huge risk. I think everybody is real nervous about Talladega, and hopefully everybody drives that way and we don't have any big pile-ups.

Talladega is a huge risk, ... I think everybody is real nervous about Talladega, and hopefully everybody drives that way and we don't have any big pile-ups.

It was a good day. It started off bad. The car just wasn't handling right early on and it took us a while to get hooked up. It's not the finish we wanted, but the team did a great job.

It was a great lap and after the week we've had.

It's very important to be in the top five. And if you can be in first, it's going to be a huge advantage for the race team in the pits, and it'll make the day a lot easier for you.

There's too much riding on these races to do something stupid, ... Everybody will race hard, but we all know what's at stake in these last four races.

Anyone who gets on a plane headed to Vegas wants to win. Race car drivers are no different. It's an exciting place to visit and a great place to race and an even better place to win. We did that last year and would certainly like to do it again this weekend.

I'm proud of our team. Starting in the inside is a big advantage. We will get a great pit selection so we have that benefit to look forward to as well.

I kind of view it as jealousy, and he doesn't have a crew chief in there working hard enough to make his cars as good. This team has worked too hard to even have those kind of comments thrown at them, and I'm going to be very defensive over it.

I knew I wanted me or one of my teammates to win. We helped each other all day, and then I got a great run on the last lap to get by Brian. I don't really know where it came from.

I knew we were in good shape once we got going on a long run, ... Chad said four was going to be better, and it worked out.

I'm very proud of what the team has done today. We've been through a lot.

I'm very pleased with it. The guys went back and worked on the car and found some things to pick up some speed. So I am very happy with that.

I'm very happy with everything (my team) got done on the race car, and it was a good, clean lap. ? It is nice to get back to the track and perform well after a bad weekend like we had a Bristol.

I'm not sure what was being said. But being positive and trying to pump your team up, sometimes things are said on the radio....

I'm hopeful the underlying issue of us legitimately winning the race is there. We worked our butts off for it. ... We understand we made a mistake. We just want the respect that comes along with winning the Daytona 500.

If you're hitting your stride, you're all about the Chase starting. If you're downhill fighting your way up, you'd want a couple of weeks before the Chase starts so you can sort out your own stuff. We didn't get off to a good start last year and almost won it so we'll just have to work hard and see what happens.

In some ways I think pit road is more treacherous here than anywhere else, and having that first pit pick here is the biggest advantage in my opinion.

I look at Mark Martin and ... he's been competitive and has been fighting for championships for really the majority of his career,